MOSCOW, Nov 17, 2023 (AFP) - Russia's justice ministry said Friday it had

filed a formal complaint calling for a ban of the "international LGBT public
movement," without specifying whether it was seeking the closure of specific
groups in the country.

It is the latest move in Russia's long-standing crackdown against the LGBTQ
community and people with what authorities call "non-traditional" sexual
orientation and gender identities.

"The Russian justice ministry has lodged an administrative legal claim with
the Supreme Court to recognise the International LGBT public movement as
extremist and ban its activity in Russia," it said in a statement.

The extremist label has been used by Russian authorities against swathes of
rights organisations and opposition groups, which opens its members to
prosecution.

The ministry accused the "LGBT movement operating on the territory of the
Russian Federation" of "various signs and manifestations of extremism,
including incitement to social and religious hatred."

It did not specify what exactly it meant by that movement, but said a court
hearing was scheduled for November 30.

Since launching its offensive in Ukraine -- often portrayed as an existential
fight against Western liberal values -- Russia has accelerated its campaign
against LGBTQ groups.

"Russian authorities are once again forgetting that the LGBT+ community are
human beings," said Dilya Gafurova, the head of LGBTQ rights group Sphere.

Authorities "don't just want to erase us from the public field: they want to
ban us as a social group," Gafurova added.